Aspen Trail and Marshall Gulch Loop Trail

Aspen Trail and Marshall Gulch Loop Trail is a 3.7 mile heavily trafficked loop trail located near Mount Lemmon, AZ that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.

3.7 miles887 feetLoop

dogs on leash

kid friendly

birding

hiking

nature trips

trail running

walking

forest

views

wild flowers

wildlife

Directions from Tucson: Take the Catalina Highway off Tanque Verde Road. Drive 4.2 miles to the Forest boundary and continue 26 miles through Summerhaven to the Marshall Gulch Picnic Area. The trailhead is at the end of the road. You'll have to walk the last couple of hundred yards in winter when the road into the picnic area is closed.

This is a great trail, but it's awfully crowded. We had beautiful fall colors the entire way. We hiked up Marshall Gulch, then turned left at Aspen Trail. There is a nice overlook a half mile along. We had an amazing rainbow while there. I'm not sure that happens every time though. :) Due to time restraints, we came back down Marshall Gulch.

Really enjoyed this hike. After driving through Summerhaven go to end of road. We got on the trail right behind the restrooms on the right side and took the loop counterclockwise. The first half of hike felt like I was in New England. Cool temperatures for September. The second half is SO beautiful as you go through hundreds of new pine trees and then the aspens. It was a little busy for the first 10 minutes, but then we were alone most of the hike. Easy-moderate. So much different than Sabino and Catalina but still lovely. September 2016.

I would rate this as a moderate trail. We took our dog with us which was great! Beautiful hike! The trails are not marked very well. So we ended up taking the wrong one half way through the loop. We realized this about a half mile in and had to turn around. This was a pretty busy area. The trail was moderately busy, but the picnic area was very busy and parking was a bit tricky. I would definitely recommend this trail and would hike it again soon!

1st hike on this trail I Would rate it a moderate, certainly not easy in parts where it's rocky uneven terrain and numerous elevation changes, Beautiful scenery with lots of photo ops. First time hiking through heavy low fog and saw a bobcat. Nice day!

This is an amazing trail. Well marked for the most part. We made a smaller loop (about 3 mile round trip) by starting on Marshall Gulch and then taking the turnoff to Aspen trail on the way back. It was late afternoon when we started so by the time we reached the overlook it was sunset. Such a beautiful view with many large boulders and rocky outcroppings. Marshall gulch follows a small creek most of the way up which allows for lush plant growth and cool shade. It opens up as you gradually climb the mountain where you'll see stripped trees from a recent wildfire. Large boulders meet you at the top, the you wind downwards along aspen trail back to the parking lot. The trail back is equally as lush. Beautiful experience all around

Fun trail, as always bring water this is an Arizona trail after all. The first half is a rather gradual incline as you make your way along a forested trail the runs next to a small creek. Once you reach mile mark 1.2 you will swing south and walk along some gorgeous views of the Tucson area, much of it can barely be made out from this altitude but if you plan it right with some flash lights the city lights look great. In the last 3rd of the trail it starts making its way back to the parking area with lots of switch backs and loose sand/stone so be careful. All in all this is an amazing trail and I highly recommended it to anyone in the area.

Great hike for a day trip to Mt. Lemmon! I took my dog and she loved it too. Unfortunately, it was a little longer than advertised. It was about 5 miles for us, not 3.4 - I used the GPS via this app to map it as we went along. We started and ended at the Marshall Gulch Picnic area. Still awesome though! She loved walking through the shallow creek along Marshall Gulch.